New Ideas, New Paintings

This past week has been all about sketching and getting my ideas down onto paper and following on from my tutorial I have been doing research on different artists and sketching out painting compositions. I am really keen to experiment with scale, colour and shape and above are some small pencil drawings and gouache tests for possible future projects.

I really like how the middle gouache sketch worked out so I decided to give it a go on a larger scale. I already had a square canvas frame made from the wood workshop so once I had stretched and primed it I was ready to go. One thing that worries me when increasing scale is my technique of using masking tape as a stencil because as it gets larger the stencil becomes much more delicate. Fortunately for this canvas it was okay and didn't cause any problems but if I want to go any bigger I will definitely need to reconsider the process.

I am delighted with how this painting went and I fully believe I am going in the right direction with my practice. I love the colours, shapes and textures within the painting and building it up from separate layers of stencilled colour works well for me. I do however need to work on getting that really crisp, hard edge to the shapes; more often than not the paint is slightly seeping under which is something I don't want. Maybe upgrading the quality of tape and with a bit more practice I will get the effect I desire.

Currently I am working on some more sketches and I have a couple of bigger canvas frames so hopefully within the next few weeks I will have more impressive artwork to show you!

Made You Look - Documentary

Made You Look is an amazing documentary film about creatives working in the digital age. It discusses why graphic creatives are turning to analogue means of making work in an era when technology is booming.

I went to see a screening of the film at Hyde Park Picture House and afterwards a panel of five local creatives (including the director of the film and an illustration tutor from LCA) talked about the film and answered questions the audience had. I found the whole event extremely interesting and it was great to get different opinions from some of the top designers and illustrators like Jon Burgerman, Antony Burrill and Hattie Stewart.

The point of the film was to say that there is no real 'side' but suggests that analogue and digital techniques work alongside each other in harmony. We need both; we need technology to speed up processes, network and inspire us but we also need to know when to unplug, get into our studio and make something physical. There is nothing more satisfying than holding a print you've made, a painting you've created or a dress you've sewn.

You really do need to get the right combination of both worlds if you want to be successful in the creative industry and the film was a great reminder of this. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and where better to watch it than the beautiful Hyde Park Picture House.

Start of Year Tutorial

I am so excited to be starting university again and now that the boring welcome back talks and mac suite reminders are out of the way it means I can actually start creating! I have a great studio space and it is now full of sketches and inspirational pictures to get me back into the painting frame of mind.

I also had a brief meeting with my tutor to discuss where I am with my practice and where I will go next. It was great to talk about my ideas and get a new, fresh perspective of my work from someone else. In conclusion to the tutorial I need to:

• Increase scale.
• Practice colour mixing.
• Experiment with different mediums.
• Research artists (Monique Prieto, Patrick Caulfield and David Hockney).

I really want to nail this year and I feel much more confident in my work. I don't want to let anything hold me back and I am definitely going to give it my all - I will keep updating and recording my progress here on the blog! 

Recent Paintings

Untitled - Acrylic Paint and Collaged Papers on Canvas - 14x18 inch

Still Life with a Yukka and an Alpacka - Acrylic Paint on Canvas - 12x16 Inch

I want to create a body of work that is centred on shape, colour and abstraction by looking at the contrast between organic forms in nature and man-made objects of everyday life. Here are two of my recent paintings based on this concept. I have been trying to figure out a style of painting that works for me so you could say these are experiments and so far I have learned a lot. I now know I really enjoy collaging with painted papers, using masking tape to stencil off areas and painting with thick brushes to form gestural marks. This is really useful as I now have a clearer understanding of how I want to work, it means I can get down to business and create more work without worrying how I'm going to do it.

Artists That Currently Inspire Me

Over the summer I have been collecting names of artists that currently inspire me in terms of the direction I want my art practice to take. I have been thinking a lot about what I want my art to become in my second year of university so that when I start again this month I have a path I want to go down. Doing this has really helped as I feel I have a focus and can get on and make some art rather than wasting time just thinking about it. I have done a couple of paintings and experimented with some ideas (which I will post about in the near future) but for now I thought I'd show you three of the main artists that I am currently interested in.

Paul Wackers

I love the colour, shapes and textures Paul Wackers creates in his paintings of plants and objects that he associates with personal internal anecdotes.  I admire how he combines both nature and object within a single composition that gels well together aesthetically creating an abstracted still life. I think his colour and shape is excellent and is something I really want to try and capture in my own work.

Kirra Jamison

Kirra Jamison's large abstract, gouache paintings really caught my eye because of their beautiful pastel colours and crisp, flat shapes. Jamison works with tape to produce those careful, sharp edges which is a way of working I really enjoy using.  

Tatiana Urban

Tatiana Urban explores modern landscape painting and I really love the colours and gestures in her work. The like how she combines abstract organic shapes with geometric shapes to produce a contrast in the paintings.